It's beginning to look a lot like.......nah still Summer!
How can it already be Thanksgiving? We went to lunch last week and as we walked up to the food court, we saw a blow up 
(which is completely foreign here), Christmas 
, Christmas wreaths, lights, and blow up 
. In the background, country Christmas is playing from like the 90s era. It was 85 degrees 
, and then all of that! Where am I? Don’t get me wrong, I 
Christmas 
but I’m back to my SC Christmas times where we were wearing tees and shorts!
Happy birthday 
to our brother Greg this week! Pretty soon they’ll be joining us in the BBM and enjoying perpetual summer!
to our brother Greg this week! Pretty soon they’ll be joining us in the BBM and enjoying perpetual summer!  |
| Departing missionaries pick up |
was busy this week, so our week flew by. It was transfer week, so I was able to do airport runs with Sister Stoffers to pick up and drop off the sisters! The spirit of these sisters is so incredible and infectious that the only word I can describe the feeling of being with them is JOY! We have 5 sisters in our zone, with 8 other sisters spread through our other islands. One of the challenges at least for sisters here is the ability to drive. We have few walking areas, so at least one needs to have driven pre-mission. Because we get lots of diversity from international missionaries, many young adults have never driven or obtained a license. For safety and logistics, it’s another level to consider with companionships and transfers. 
Sister Taulua & Elder VanWagonner off to St. Lucia
Sister Taulua (Tonga) was sad to leave Barbados
 |
| Elder Irving off to Grenada |
On Tuesday with our mission leaders off island, President Bickmore asked Doug to run our weekly devotional. Our focus was based on Elder Bednar’s 2011 MTC Christmas Day devotional on The Character of Christ! This has quickly become one of our favorites and is definitely worthy of your time if you haven’t ever heard it. It’s on YouTube. We’ve all been taught that the natural man is an enemy to God, but through the Atonement of Christ we can all be changed. What does that mean in application? As the natural man, our tendency in times of trial is to turn inward… Why me? Woo is me! Boo hoo 
look how hard I have it! However, the character of Christ is to continually think of others or to turn outward even in the depths of sorrow. Consider even on the cross…he was worried about his mother, the thieves he comforted, and he asked the Father to “forgive them for they know not what they do!” When we start to become more like Christ, we forget ourselves and reach outward and the miracle that happens within is that we indeed find ourselves and become more than we could ever do alone. It’s a beautiful message and one we highly recommend when you have some time.
look how hard I have it! However, the character of Christ is to continually think of others or to turn outward even in the depths of sorrow. Consider even on the cross…he was worried about his mother, the thieves he comforted, and he asked the Father to “forgive them for they know not what they do!” When we start to become more like Christ, we forget ourselves and reach outward and the miracle that happens within is that we indeed find ourselves and become more than we could ever do alone. It’s a beautiful message and one we highly recommend when you have some time. A past mission president from the West Indies mission brought a tour group of about 50 senior couples on the Celebrity cruise 
that docked in Barbados on Wednesday. He asked our mission president if he could come speak to the group to see if any might be interested to come and serve here. Well our mission leaders were in the Dominican Republic 
this week for training, so he asked us to represent. We took all the office missionaries and went down to chat with the group. It was fun to meet many of them who had previously been missionaries or mission leaders and hear their stories. As we were talking to one couple, I didn’t recognize him but the voice kept running through my brain as being very familiar. Finally, I had to ask if he had done any podcasts that I may have heard. He kindly and quietly admitted he had narrated our scriptures, some of our past Come Follow Me manuals, and some church movies 
and instructional videos. 
BAM! Yep, that was the voice I’d heard many times. Doug even recognized him as Oliver Cowdrey in a few of the church movies.
that docked in Barbados on Wednesday. He asked our mission president if he could come speak to the group to see if any might be interested to come and serve here. Well our mission leaders were in the Dominican Republic this week for training, so he asked us to represent. We took all the office missionaries and went down to chat with the group. It was fun to meet many of them who had previously been missionaries or mission leaders and hear their stories. As we were talking to one couple, I didn’t recognize him but the voice kept running through my brain as being very familiar. Finally, I had to ask if he had done any podcasts that I may have heard. He kindly and quietly admitted he had narrated our scriptures, some of our past Come Follow Me manuals, and some church movies and instructional videos. BAM! Yep, that was the voice I’d heard many times. Doug even recognized him as Oliver Cowdrey in a few of the church movies. The Church has always stressed the importance of preparedness. This week we put the temporal preparedness to the test after we had a parish-wide pump failure at the water main facility followed by a pipe break during pressure destabilization. All of that meant we had no water for 2 days! Zip, nada, nothing! If you know Doug at all, we had our drinking 
supply and our emergency water for the non-potable things like flushing toilets etc. nice and ready. Just when we were down to the last 2 buckets 
to be able to use the toilets 
, the water 
slowly started to return. Hallelujah, but we had a sea bath for church today and no shaving for Doug. It’s all good now!
supply and our emergency water for the non-potable things like flushing toilets etc. nice and ready. Just when we were down to the last 2 buckets to be able to use the toilets , the water slowly started to return. Hallelujah, but we had a sea bath for church today and no shaving for Doug. It’s all good now!  |
| Neighbors are back |
! Sister Dorant was indeed supposed to be baptized yesterday and the Lord made it happen. MIRACLES are still happening! Yes, please!
Saturday afternoon, the senior missionaries spent the afternoon with our toes in the sand at Port St. Charles. The first Saturday in the last month was 
and beautiful! Yeah, we know…..”poor us!” 
. Well, we had to take a sea bath 
because remember No ! Later that evening, we all went out to celebrate Sister Kirkham’s & Fuller’s birthdays 
at an adorable antebellum manor called Sweetwater Manor and the restaurant was Pavao! Delicious 
and the place was stunning! It’s a boutique hotel and if you’re coming , you might consider it!
and beautiful! Yeah, we know…..”poor us!” . Well, we had to take a sea bath because remember No ! Later that evening, we all went out to celebrate Sister Kirkham’s & Fuller’s birthdays at an adorable antebellum manor called Sweetwater Manor and the restaurant was Pavao! Delicious and the place was stunning! It’s a boutique hotel and if you’re coming , you might consider it!  |
| Pavao means "Peacock" in Portugues |
Sunday, woke to a trickle of water but not enough pressure for showers etc., so you do what you can…..camping mode! Doug was asked to speak again! He always does a great job. Our branch president said, he just likes to hear Doug talk! That’s a first! Afterwards, Doug had an interview with our District President and will have a new calling in the Elder’s Quorum. Yet another tender mercy, when he’s mostly figured out the financial clerk role now he will fill some additional time serving our branch as well. Sunday Evening, Michael, a single brother in our branch invited us to dinner with the young missionaries in our branch. He’s from Guyana and found the church from a Facebook ad. When he saw the name of our church containing Jesus Christ and saints, he knew he had to learn more. He’s been a member for almost 2 years. He’s in his 40s and walks the 2 miles to church every week, so he can bless the Sacrament. He then feeds the young missionaries every Sunday evening and they bring the message. This is the second time we’ve been invited this month. We
being in the Oistens branch!  |
| Michael is a wonderful host |
The Caribbean doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving like we do in the states. Their traditions are different, but we are going to get together Thursday evening as senior missionaries and then the young missionaries are joining us for pie. All the senior missionaries are American, but many of our young missionaries are not. Again, little culture shock 
for holiday traditions. Adding to this, Next week is Barbados Independence day, so we hope to see what traditions they have for that then. We are starting to see lots of flags and banners in blue and gold with the 
symbol prominently displayed and highlighted with blue & gold lights, which we’re told switch to red and green right after! Not sure if they celebrate 
it like they do for CropOver, but we shall see how it rivals the state’s Independence Day.
for holiday traditions. Adding to this, Next week is Barbados Independence day, so we hope to see what traditions they have for that then. We are starting to see lots of flags and banners in blue and gold with the symbol prominently displayed and highlighted with blue & gold lights, which we’re told switch to red and green right after! Not sure if they celebrate it like they do for CropOver, but we shall see how it rivals the state’s Independence Day.
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